El 


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BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


■ANCROn 
UMUVf 


68th  CONGKESS,  ^        ^Chf^ 

1st  Session.  J^^         /  ^2  Ij^ 

IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

December  10,  1923. 

Mr.  BuRSUM  introduced  the  following  bill ;  which  was  read  twice  and  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  and  Surveys. 


Al  bill 

To  quiet  the  title  to  lands  within  Puehlo  Indian  land  grants,  and 

for  other  purposes. 

1  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 

2  tives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 

3  That  in  order  to  quiet  title  to  various  lots,  parcels  and  tracts 

4  of  land  in  the  State  of  New  Mexico  for  which  claim  shall  be 

5  made  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  said  State  as 

6  hereinafter  provided,  the  United  States  of  America,  in  its 

7  sovereign  capacity  as  guardian  of  said  Pueblo  Indians  shall, 

8  by  its  Attorney  General,  file  in  the  district  court  of  the  United 

9  States  for  the  district  of  New  Mexico,  its  bill  or  bills  of 

10  complaint  with  a  prayer  for  discovery  of  the  nature  of  any 

11  claim  or   claims   of   any   kind   whatsoever   adverse   to    the 

12  claim  of  said  Pueblo  Indians,  as  hereinafter  determined. 


2 

1  Sec.  2.  That  there  shall  be  and  hereby  is  established  a 

2  board  to  be  known  as  ''Pueblo  Lands  Board"  to  consist  of 

3  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  the  Attorney  General,  and  a 

4  third  member  to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
6  States.     The  board  shall  be  provided  with  suitable  quarters 

6  in  the  city  of  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  and  shall  employ  such 

7  clerical  assistance,  interpreters  and  stenographers  with  such 

8  compensation  as  the  Attorney  General  shall  deem  adequate, 

9  and  it  shall  be  provided  with  such  necessary  supplies  and 

10  equipment  as  it  may  require  on  requisitions  to  the  Depart- 

11  ment  of  Justice.    The  compensation  and  allowance  for  travel 

12  and  expenses  of  the  member  appointed  by  the  President  shall 

13  be  fixed  by  the  Attorney  General.- 

^4  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  board  to  investigate,  deter- 

1^  mine,  and  report  and  set  forth  by  metes  and  bounds,  ilhis- 

*^>  trated  where  necessary  by  field  notes  and  plats,  the  lands 

17  within  the  exterior  boundaries  of  any  land  granted  or  con- 

18  firmed  to  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico  by  any  author- 

19  ity  of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  acquired  by  said 

20  Indians  as  a  cpmmunity  by  purchase  or  otherwise,  title  to 

21  which  the  said  board  shall  find  not  to  have  been  extinguished 

22  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  and  the  board 

23  shall  not  include  in  their  report  any  claims  of  non-Indian 

24  claimants  who,  in  the  opinion  of  said  board  after  investiga- 

25  tion^  hold  and  occupy  lands  of  which  they  have  had  adverse 


1  possession  within  the  terms  of  the  limitgftKnf  of  ^itlier  of 

2  them  prescribed  in  section  4  of  this  Act:  Prdvidedf  how- 

3  ever,  That  if  all  the  members  of  the  board  shall  not  agree 

4  that  the  Indian  title  is  not  extinguished  to'  any  tract  or 

5  tracts  of  land,  then  such  tract  or  tracts  of  land  shall  be 

6  included  in  the  lands  which  shall  be  clauned  for  said  Indians. 

7  The  board  shall  report  upon  each  pueblo  as  a  sepa- 

8  rate  unit  and  shall  complete  its  report  upbii  oH'e  pueblo 

9  before  taking  up  another,  and  upon  the  completion  of  ea'ch 
10  report  one  copy  shall  be  filed  with  the  tlnire'd  States  (fe- 
ll trict  court  for  the  district  of  New  Mexico/ one'  with  the  At- 
12  torney  General  of  the  United  States,  one  with  tli'e  Secre- 
rS  tary  of  the' Interior,  and  one  with  the  Board  of  Indian  Com- 

14  missioners. 

15  That  in  the  event  there  is  submitted  to  the  Pueblo 
10  Land  Board  any  claim  or  claims  originating  during  the 
17  twenty-year  period  provided  for  in  subsection  (a)  of  sec- 
1^*  tion  4  of  this  Act  under  and  b}^'  virtue  of  a  deed  or  deeds, 

19  or  a  contract  for  a  deed  or  deeds,  entered  into  by  the  au- 

20  thorities  of  any  pueblo   with   such  claimant   or  claimants 

21  in  behalf  of  such  pueblo  then  the  board  shall  not  report 

22  such  claim  or  claims  for  suit  to  quiet  title,  but  shall  invests 

23  gate  all  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  transaction,  the 

24  value  of  the  improvements  upon  and  extent  of  use  of  the  land 

25  claimed,  and  shall  report  the  facts  fully  to  the  Secretary 


4 

1  of  the  Interior,  who  in  turn  shall  report  the  same  to  Congress 

2  with  his  recommendations  in  the  premises:  Provided,  how- 

3  ever,  That  if  after  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  transmittal 

4  to  Congress  of  the  recommendation  by  the  Secretary  of  the 

5  Interior  no  action  has  been  taken  pursuant  thereto,  then  the 
Q  claimant  or  claimants  shall  be  served  with  process  in  the 

7  appropriate  suit  to  quiet  title  and  his  or  their  rights  shall 

8  be  litigated  in  the  same  manner  as  would  any  other  claim 

9  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act:  And  provided  further,  That 

10  if  it  shall  appear  that  any  of  the  claims  above  mentioned 

11  in  this  paragraph  originated  prior  to  June  20,  1910,  such 

12  claims   shall,   if   the   governing  authorities   of   the   pueblo 

13  interested  in  the  premises  shall  file  with  the -said  board  their 

14  written  approval  thereof,  be  recognized  as  valid  and  dis- 

15  posed  of  in  the  manner  provided  for  the  disposition  of  the 

16  claims   included   in   the    provisions   of   section    10   of    this 

17  Act. 

18  Sec.  3.  That  upon  the  filing  of  each  report  by  the 

19  said  board,  the  Attorney  General  shall  cause  to  be  filed  in 

20  the  United  States  district  court  for  the  district  of  New  Mexico, 

21  as  provided  in  section  1  of  this  Act,  a  suit  to  quiet  title  to 

22  the  lands   described  in   said  report   as   Indian   lands,    the 

23  Indian  title  to  which  is  not  extinguished. 

24  Sec.  4.  That  all  persons  other  than  Pueblo  Indians 

25  claiming  title  to,  or  ownership  of  any  lands  involved  in  any 


5 

1  such  suit,  or  suits,  may  in  addition  to  any  other  legal  or 

2  equitable  defenses  which  they  may  have,  plead  limitation  qf 

3  action,  as  follows,  to  wit: 

4  (a)    That    in    themselves,    their    ancestors,    grantors, 

5  privies,  or  predecessors  in  interest  or  claim  of  interest,  they 

6  have  had  open,  notorious,  actual,  exclusive,  continuous,  ad- 

7  verse  possession  of  the  premises  claimed  for  more  than  twenty 

8  years  next  preceding  the  passage  of  this  Act,  under  color  of 

9  title. 

10  (b)    That    in    themselves,    their    ancestors,    grantors, 

11  privies,  or  predecessors  in  interest  or  claim  of  interest,  they 

12  have  had  open,  notorious,  actual,  exclusive,  continuous,  ad- . 

13  verse  possession  of  the  premises  claimed  for  more  than  thirty 

14  years  next  preceding  the  passage  of  this  Act,  with  claim  of    • 

l'^>  ownership,  but  without  color  of  title.  ^TSawS 

1<^>  Sec.  5.  The  plea  of  such  limitations,  successfully  main- 

17  tained,  shall  entitle  the  claimants  so  pleading  to  a  decree  in 

1^"^  lavor  of  them,  their  heirs,  executors,  successors,  and  assigns 

'  •'  for  the  premises  so  claimed  by  them,  respectively,  or  so  much 

-^'  thereof  as  may  be  thus  established,  which  shall  have  the  efifect 

'^^  of  a  deed  of  quitclaim  as  against  the  United  States  and  said 

2^  Indians,  and  a  decree  in  favor  of  claimants  upon  any  other 

-^  ground  shall  have  a  like  effect. 

-'^  The  United  States  may  plead  with  like  effect  in  favor  of 

-•^  the  pueblo  or  any  individual  Indian  thereof,  as  the  case  may 

26  be,  the  said  limitations  hereinbefore  defined. 


6 

-1  1  Sec.  6.  That  all  lands,  the  title  to  which  is  determined 

2  in  said  suit,  or  suits,  shall  where  necessary,  be  surve}  ed  and 

3  mapped  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 

4  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  but  such  survey  shall  be 

5  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  judge  of  the  United  States  dis- 

6  trict  court  and  if  approved  by  said  judge  shall  be  filed  in 

7  said  court  and  become  a  part  of  the  decree,  or  decrees, 

8  entered  in  said  district  court. 

9  _  Sec.  7.  That  necessary  costs  in  all  original  proceedings 
to  under  this  Act,  to  be  determined  by  the  court,  shall  be  taxed 

11  against  the  United  States,  and  any  party  aggrieved  by  any 

12  final  judgment  or  decree  shall  have  the  right  to  a  review 

13  thereof  by  appeal  or  writ  of  eiTor  or  other  process,  as  in 

14  other  cases,  but  upon  such  appeal  being  taken  each  party 
1  ^  shall  pay  his  own  costs. 

1^>  Sec.  8.  That  in  the  sense  in  which  used  in  this  Act,  the 

1*^  word  "purchase"  shall  be  taken  to  mean  the  acquisition  of 

1^  community  lands  by  the  Indians  other  than  by  grant  or 

1^  donation  fi'om  a  sovereign. 

^^  Sec.  9.  That  any  person  not  impleaded  in  any  such 

21  action,  and  claiming  any  interest  in  the  premises  involved, 

22  may  be  made  a  party  defendant  thereto,  or  may  intervene 
2'>  in  such  action,  setting  up  his  claim  in  usual  form. 

24  Sec.  10.  That  as  to  all  lands  within  the  exterior  bounda- 

25  lies  of  any  lands  granted  or  confirmed  to  the  Pueblo  Indians  ' 


7. 

1  of  New  Mexico,  by  any  authority  of  the  United  States  pf 

2  Aiuerica,  or  acquired  by  said  Indians  as  a  community  by 

3  purchase  or  otherwise  and  which  have  not  been  claimed  fpr 

4  said  Indians  by  the  findings  and  report  of  the  board  as  herein 

5  provided,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  cause  notice 
n  to  be  published  in  some  newspaper  or  newspapers  of  gen- 
ii eral  circulation  issued,  if  any  there  be,  in  the  county  in 

8  which  the  said  lands,  or  some  part  of  them  are  located, 

0  otherwise  in  some  newspaper  or  newspapers  of  general  cir- 

1,Q  culation  published  nearest  to  such  lands,  oncp  a  week  foi 

1 1  five  successive  weeks,  setting  forth  as  nearly  as  may  be 

1 2  tlie  names  of  claimants  of  land  holdings  within  said  exterior 

13  boundaries  and  not  embraced  within  the  lands  claimed 
i*i  for  said  Indians  as  aforesaid,  with  a  description  of  such 
\.^],  several  holdings  as  shown  by  a  survey  of  Pueblo  Indian 
1^^  lands  heretofore  made  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary 
1'^  of  the  Interior,  and  conmionly  known  as  the  Joy  Survey, 
18  or  as  m^y  be  otherwise  shown,  and  requiring  that  any  per- 
1'^  son  or  persons  claiming  such  described  parcel  or  parcels  of 
r.Q,  land  adversely  to  the  apparent  claimant  or  claimants  so 
r  1  named  as  aforesaid,  or  their  heirs  or  assigns,  shall,  on  or  be- 
22  fore  the  thirtieth  day  after  the  last  publication  of  such  notice 
f,i^  .  file  his  or  their  adverse  claim  in  the  United  States  land  office 
24  in  the  land  distiict  wherein  such  parcel  or  parcels  of  land 
2.^  are  situate,  in  the  nature  of  a  contest,  statmg  the  nature 


8 

1  and  basis  of  such  adverse  claim,  and  notice  .of  such  contest 

2  shall  be  served  upon  the  claimant  or  claimants  named  in  the 

3  said  notice,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  cases  of  contest  of 

4  homestead  entries;  if  no  such  contest  is  instituted  as  afore- 

5  said,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  issue  to  the  claimant 

6  or  claimants  named  in  the  said  notice  a  patent  or  other  cer- 

7  tificate  of  title  for  the  parcel  or  parcels  of  land  so  described 

8  in  the  said  notice;  but  if  a  contest  be  filed,  it  shall  proceed 

9  and  be  heard  and  decided  as  contests  of  homestead  entries  are 

10  heard  and  decided,  under  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 

11  General  Land  Office  pertinent  thereto.     Upon  such  contest 

12  either  party  may  claim  the  benefit  of  the  pi'ovisions  of  section 

13  4  of  this  Act,  to  the  same  effect  as  if  he  were  a  party  to  a  suit 
l'4i''  to  quiet  title  brought  under  the  provisions  herec  f,  and  the  sue- 
l^i^  cessfal  party  shall  receive  a  patent  or  certificate  of  title. 
U>  Any  patent  or  certificate  of  title  issued  to  non-Indian  claim- 

17  ants  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act  shall  have  the  eft'ect 

18  only  of  a  relinquishment  of  title  by  the  United  States  of 
1 1)  America  and  the  said  Indians  and  shall  not  affect  the  adverse 

20  rights  of  any  other  party  or  parties  whatsoever.     If  the 

21  names  of  the  claimants  of  such  parcel  or  parcels  of  land  are 

22  unknown,  and  after  such  notice  more  than  one  person  or 
!3;i*5  group  of  persons  united  in  interest  makes  claim  in  such  land 
2^  office  adversely  to  each  other,  the  register  and  receiver  shall 
'Ji'^  require  them  to  set  forth  in  writing  the  nature  of  their  re- 


9 

1  spective  claims,  and  thereupon  the  said  claims  shall  be  heard 

2  and  decided  as  if  they  were  made  in  a  contest  in  the  first 

3  instance.     All  patents  or  certificates  of  title  which  may  be 

4  issued  in  accordance  with  this  Act  shall  be  in  such  form  as 

5  to  convey  the  title  of  the  United  States  and  said  Indians  to 

6  the  grantee,  naming  him,  and  to  his  heirs  and  legal  repre- 

7  sentatives. 

8  Sec.   11.  That  if  any  non-Indian  party  to  any  such 

9  suit  shall  assert  against  the  Indian  title  a  claim  based  upon  a 

10  Spanish  or  Mexican  grant,  and  if  the  court  should  finally 

11  find  that  such  claim  by  the  non-Indian  is  superior  to  that  of 

12  the  Indian  claim,  no  final  decree  or  judgment  of  ouster  of  the 
\o  said  Indians  shall  be  entered  or  writ  of  possession  or  assist- 

14  ance  shall  be  allowed  against  said  Indians,  or  any  of  them,  or 
1^  against  the  United  States  of  America  acting  in  their  beharlf, 
I^  unless  it  shall  be  found  that  such  non-Indian  claimant  shall 
1'^  also  be  entitled  to  said  land  under  the  provisions  of  section  4 

15  as  herein  provided.  In  such  case  the  court  shall  ascertain  the 
1^  area  and  value  of  the  land  thus  held  by  any  non-Indian 
20  claimant  under  such  superior  title,  excluding  therefrom  the 
^1  area  and  value  of  lots  or  parcels  of  land  the  title  to  which  has 

22  been  found  to  be  in  other  persons  by  adverse  possession  under 

23  the  provisions  of  this  Act:  Protided,  however,  That  Eniy  find- 

2"*  ings  by  the  court  under  the  provisions  of  this  section  maj^'be 

^^  reviewed  on  appeal  or  writ  of  error  at  the  instance  of  afly 

S.  726 2 


10 

1  party  aggrieved  thereby,  in  the  same  manner,  to  the  same 

2  extent,  and  with  hke  effect  as  if  such  findings  were  a  final 

3  judgment  or  decree.     When  such  finding  adveree   to  the 

4  Indian  claim  has  become  final,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 

5  shall  report  to  Congress  the  facts,  including  the  area  and  A^alue 

6  of  the  land  so  adjudged  against  the  Indian  claim,  with  his 

7  recommendations  in  the  premises. 

8  Sec.    12.  That  when   any   claimant,   other   than   the 

9  United  States  for  said  Indians,  fails  to  sustain  his  claim  to 

10  any  parcel  of  land  within  any  Pueblo  Indian  grant,  pur- 

11  chase,  or  donation  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act,   but 

12  has  held  and  occupied  any  such  parcel  in  gocd  faith,  claim- 

13  ing  the  same  as  his  own,  and  the  same  has  been  improved, 

14  the  value  of  the  improvements  upon  the  said  parcel  of  land 

15  shall  be  found  by  the  court,  and  reported  b}^  the  Secretar}^ 
ir»  of  the  Interior  to  Congress  with  his  request  for  appropria- 

17  tions  to  pay  such  claimants  for  such  improvements  at  the 

18  valuation  so  found  by  the  court. 

19  Sec.  13.  That  if  any  land  adjudged  against  any  claim- 

20  ant  be  situate  among  lands  adjudicated  or  otherwise  deter- 

21  mined  in  favor  of  non-Indian  claimants  and  apart  from  the 

22  main  body  of  the  Indian  land,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 

23  terior  deems  it  to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  Indians  that 

24  such  parcels  so  adjudged  against  the  non-Indian  claimant  be 

25  sold,  he  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  governing  authorities 


11 

1  of  the  pueblo,  order  the  sale  thereof,  under  such  regulations 

2  as  he  may  make,  to  the  highest  bidder  for  cash,  and  if  the 

3  buyer  thereof  be  other  than  the  losing  claunant,  the  purchase 

4  price  shall  be  used  in  pajang  to  such  losing  claimant  the  ad- 

5  judicated  value  of  the  improvements  aforesaid,  if  found  un- 
^  der  the  provisions  of  section  12  hereof,  and  the  balance 

7  thereof,  if  any,  shall  be  paid  over  to  the  proper  officer,  or 

8  officers,  of  the  Indian  community,  but  if  the  buyer  be  the 

9  losing  claimant,  and  the  value  of  his  improvements  has  been 

10  adjudicated   as  aforesaid,   such  buyer  shall   be   entitled  to 

1 1  have  credit  upon  his  bid  for  the  value  of  such  improvements 

12  so  adjudicated. 

Ki  Sec.  14.  That  the  pleading,  practice,  procedure,  and 

1 4  rules  of  evidence  shall  be  the  same  in  all  causes  arising  under 

'•>  this  Act  as  in  other  civil  causes  in  the  Federal  courts,  except 

'^'  as  otherwise  herein  provided. 


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